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I've just re-read th others' posts... great discussion. And I guess I assumed you have CO2... -p

Here's a thought about stirrin' up that yeast without oxygenating the beer... Couldn't ya just hook up a wand or a tube to your CO2 tank (like post-boil oxygenation except without the O2) and give a little squirt? There's a layer of CO2resting over the beer anyway, and I don't see how...

FWIW, I sparge with 180 deg H20. Because of my system it hits the mash (usually 10 gallon batches) at 172. The temp going into the boiler is about 165. It all depends on the mash-out, which is key to high efficiency. I've skipped the mash-out a couple of times, and my efficiency drops at least...

There are times when the thought of beer is as good as beer itself. Cheers, and many warm thoughts to ya, and to your folks. -p

Soldering is easy! GO for it! The only thing I'd add here is that I made mine such that the manifold is in a ring shape and wraps arount the bottom of the keg about an inch from the side-walls. I ran copper tubing from the SS nipple welded through the keg across the bottom and connected the...

A keg is the way to go. I converted fifteen years ago because I wanted to step mash and have never regretted it. You'll have so much more versatility in your temperature control. You'll be able to mash up to 25 lbs of grain and, if your boiler is big enough, do 10 gallon batches (I use a keg for...

loneoak wrote: "I am not yet in the habit of actually calculating the efficiency." Why do you think your efficiency is low, then. I'm just curious as to your numbers. And what do you mean by "professional philosopher"? Cheers, -p

No, It's not twice as long for me, and I'm not sure why this works but with a ten gallon batch I open the valve a bit more and keep more of a layer of H2O on top of the grain bed, about two inches. I think it has to do with the depth of the grain bed, but if I try to rush the sparge with a 5...

So, I did this experiment this summer... I brewed 10 gallons of IPA using my own well water (which I always do) which is great water. Then I brewed 10 gal of the exact same recipe, same process, same mash and boil time with water from my dear old ma's (also great water) house twenty miles away...

OOps, just re-read. You recirculated. You may be seeing protien coagulents from th boil. Again, no worries, just cool your fermenter and wait...

You will get grain in your wort if you don't recirculate the first runnings, even if you let the mash settle (I'm assuming you're "fly" sparging). As far as removing the grittiness, try lowering the temp (ice bath if you don't have a fridge for this purpose) of the flat beer after fermentation...

What jaybird said. Better efficiency, better clarity, more experience toward building better beers. -p

But the sediment only lasts for a pint or two or three, as long as primary fermentation has been allowed to finish... I almost always rack from the primary into the keg, let it sit for a while longer at ferm temps and then drop the temp to carbonate.... seems to work fine. -p

So, I just moved my kegging operation up to my shop... A woodshop, with loads of dust and crap, and no water supply... I've been using a squirt bottle with a heavy bleach solution to squirt everything, including my fingers. This is not to replace the usual proper sanitation procedures, but...

Some thoughts: I would add to Oldfarmer, so much depends on your system... how you mash, how you sparge, the chemistry of your water... etc. The best thing (humble opinion here) is to try a few recipies, take careful notes, get some benchmarks for yourself. And adjust from there. There's...

Four years for whole pale malt and some crystal. I took a break from brewing, and when I started up again, I couldn't see throwing away all that grain. I made several batches, supplementing small amounts of fresh stuff, and aside from somewhat lower OG's, the beer turned out fine... cheers -p

Are you guys adding water to the grain, or adding grain to the water? I've found that if I heat the water and then add the grain, stir it in, rather, then I don't have clumping and I don't have to stir nearly as long. (I'll add that I mash and lauter in a modified keg so if I lose some degrees I...

Lots of good advice here... I'll add mine- get an old sleeping bag, preferably made of cotton so's it don't melt on the burner or whatever, throw it over the top, and call it good. As long as your temps, your stirring, and your patience are intact, your mash will be fine! -p

I love this website! Sparky that think is a piece of work! Brilliant. As far as Marosell's question, I agree with the folks here who say it won't be bad for your beer... But here's what I'd do with THIS batch, rather than try to filter all that crap out of there when you rack into the keg or...

I thought I'd add this... the temperature of your srike water depends on your target temp and the temperature of the grain. I've found (though I have no mathematical formula to back it up) that if my grain is 70 degrees (i.e. stored indoors overnight before brewing) and I strike with 156 deg...